The Victim's Fortune

by Authers, John; Wolffe, Richard

• ISBN13: 9780066212647
• ISBN10: 0066212642
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2002-05-16
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publications

Summary

Fifty years after World War II, a small group of Americans launched a campaign to confront the world with the fact that many assets looted by the Nazis had never been returned to their owners. Backed by class-action lawsuits and threats of economic sanctions, they mounted a vigorous challenge against some of the world's largest corporations and governments to demand billions of dollars. But what began as a moral crusade soon became a bare-knuckle battle that opened up painful debates about whether money can ever compensate for the horrors of the Holocaust. John Authers and Richard Wolffe offer a spellbinding investigative account of this momentous international struggle. The Victim's Fortune captures the personalities, ruthless tactics, and moral dilemmas surrounding the fight over compensation -- all unfolding against the backdrop of one of the darkest moments in human history.

Table of Contents

Cast of Characters	xi
Prologue	1	(4)
For Want of a Chair	5	(16)
The Final Accounting	21	(16)
A Pride of Lawyers	37	(14)
Rewriting History	51	(11)
Shot across the Bow	62	(12)
Take It or Leave It	74	(20)
The Price of Peace	94	(13)
Gateway to Zion	107	(12)
Falling like Dominoes	119	(15)
The Last Prisoners of War	134	(16)
Americans at the Gate	150	(14)
Rough Justice	164	(19)
To Start a War	183	(17)
Doomed to Succeed	200	(15)
The Magic Number	215	(15)
A Piece of Raw Meat	230	(11)
The Spiderweb	241	(12)
Claims by Committee	253	(13)
In the Crossfire	266	(14)
Freedom Fighting	280	(13)
First Victims First	293	(15)
The Last Waltz	308	(14)
Assigning Guilt	322	(14)
Legal Peace?	336	(14)
The Judgment of Judah	350	(15)
Jew versus Jew	365	(13)
Epilogue	378	(11)
Notes on Chapters	389	(42)
Note on Sources	431	(4)
Acknowledgments	435	(8)
Index	443